This text communicates a user-friendly way to explore the rhythms of poetry in English. Side-stepping the jargon that often runs through discussions of meter, the authors begin with the basic idea of poetry as a performance and suggest a fresh approach to reading poetic texts. As they guide us through exercises and ideas, they equip us with a new understanding of the relationship between meter and meaning in poems of all periods. Assuming no previous knowledge of meter, the authors ensure a smooth passage to an advanced knowledge of poetic rhythms.

Poet, Thomas Carper, and scholar, Derek Attridge, join forces in Meter and Meaning to present an illuminating and user-friendly way to explore the rhythms of poetry in English. They begin by showing the value of performing any poem aloud, so that we can sense its unique use of rhythm. From this starting point they suggest an entirely fresh, jargon-free approach to reading poetry. Illustrating their 'beat/offbeat' method with a series of exercises, they help readers to appreciate the use of rhythm in poems of all periods and to understand the vital relationship between meter and...